Mama Throw – Petal & Plume

or why I should have called this “Why 10 year old boys dont always make great photography assistants” …..

Hello there!

Did everyone hear the news – Spring is here! In between bouts of sneezing (seriously body it is day 2 how did you even KNOW!) I am excitedly looking forward to warmer weather and amazing events like “soccer ball is kicked outside not across my lounge room floor” and “couches being returned to their original use of sitting not replacing trampoline we have been too scared to put up again after our last disaster“. I live in hope that my version of motherhood is similar in part to everyone else although I fear that is just the coffee talking.

It has been a busy week here this week as I worked on so many amazing orders, photos of which will all come soon I promise. In the middle of all of it though I decided to cut into some very special fabric that I have been holding onto for a while waiting for the right project, this week I finally found it!

Lets back step a bit though to June 2015 when this happened ….

I have a few serious girl crushes in the creative world and Bari J is one of them. Her fabric and art are full of life and colour and they make my makers heart sing a joyful song. Not only that she is a lovely woman, so generous with her comments and shares. She is someone who I hope to meet in person although I know I will most likely do my awkward “how much eye contact is too much eye contact?” thing. And to be selected by Pat Bravo herself, no words! To them it may not have meant a great deal but it started a big ball rolling for me where I finally started putting myself out there and building confidence not only in my style but also my communications. Now I inch closer and closer to my goals every single day and am blessed to have great working relationships with some phenomenal women like Jennifer Paganelli, another huge hero of mine! My prize was a full bundle of Bari’s latest ranges – Petal & Plume and Anna Elise.

When the fabric arrived I folded it carefully onto my bookshelf and there it has remained until this day. I always knew I wanted to make something with it that held meaning, I didn’t know what that was but I was happy to patiently wait until the time was right.

Last week my lovely friend Claire of Project Work Life called for donations to raise money for Angela Lisman, an incredibly talented photographer, to put on an exhibition that held great meaning. All proceeds from the exhibition would then be donated to the White Ribbon Foundation and the Southern Domestic Violence Service, two amazing organisations who are at the literal coal face. I knew this was exactly the project Petal & Plume needed to be used for.Nb: there is so much more here I want to write about Claire and her amazing work with Love Local but this requires a blog post all of its own. If you live in the Southern Suburbs of Adelaide though and are a woman in business looking to network on an authentic level then this is the group for you! Click the link and get involved, it will change the way you network forever!

Some of Angela’s amazing works taken off her Facebook page – she is a serious talent!

So my Petal & Plume quilt was born. I decided to keep her super simple and make a mama throw size – after all this was all about women and I am a firm believer that women don’t spoil themselves enough! A simple quilt always heavily relies on the fabric to do the work and of course this range is perfect for that! A few fussy cut peacocks and the rest is history. For quilting I opted again for straight lines because they are my favourite but with an edge. It is so hard to see in photos but hopefully you can see how I did it. She was backed in beautiful cotton flannelette too – I wanted to know the lucking winning mama could snuggle!

Isnt she divine! Stunning colours and amazing imagery, this range will forever be a favourite.

Now the 10 year old enters the equation because in true hassled working mother stage I finished the quilt with only a tiny window of time spare to get photos before she was headed to Love Local at the stunning Woodstock Wines. Mr Cooper had the day off school so he became my assistant for the day. It wasn’t quite how I envisioned it but at the same time it was hilarious.

“Hold the quilt up Coop, UP! Oh that will do just stand there and smile”

“Yes go play on the swings, Ill take it from here”

I have to admit I had a crisis of confidence tonight when I brought the quilt into the event. After all modern quilting isn’t easy to explain when people ask you what you do for a living. And seeing her sitting by the donation table I wondered if I had done enough to make the fabric shine. Then I smacked myself around the head a bit and had a glass of amazing Sparkling Burgundy – that did the trick!

It came time to draw the winner as the night drew to an end and I was thrilled when the lovely Mathilda‘s name was drawn, I like knowing where my quilts end up. I stay ridiculously attached and I knew it had found a good home. Mathilda even let me take a photo and didn’t once yawn when I went on and on about handmade and why I love it so much – she is a legend that one!

So one more quilt has found a loving home, I have managed to share some fabric love and make new friends and finally used that amazing gift for a great cause. I would call that all a serious win!